Welcome to Stop The Damage. Hosted by the Brain Injury Association of NJ.
A brain injury can happen to anyone at anytime. The damage can be long lasting…broken bones, cracked skulls, lives torn apart! Often it was from something that could have been prevented. Our goal is to stop the damage!
This is your opportunity to get involved in your school and community to make a difference. We are seeking high school students throughout New Jersey to develop teen driving safety programs and compete against others schools for a grand prize…a driving simulator for your school. Participating schools will each receive a $1,000 stipend to help implement the project and have the opportunity to win cool prizes…while maybe saving somebody’s life!
Application deadline is November 30th—don’t miss out!
Last year, 19 high school competed against each other and developed amazing projects about driving issues that affect teens. Driving Simulators were awarded to two high schools-Holmdel High School (Monmouth County) and Lenape Regional High School District (Burlington County), but all schools walked away with prizes.
How many times have you heard that before? The concept of your first time at the wheel is something so dangerous, so frightening, so nerve-wracking—that it’s beloved. How many teens don’t love the adrenaline rush of taking risks or the satisfaction in showing off to friends extreme unconcern and nonchalance in the face of danger? Besides, everyone drives—surely you alone can’t be all that terrible at it.
The problem is, everyone drives—but not everyone survives.
Equation time!
Desire to show off in front of friends + adrenaline rush + desire to overcome obstacles + desire to be seen as “cool” = forced nonchalance. Forced nonchalance + trust in modern safety technology + knowledge that everyone drives = somewhat uneasy trust in your own driving capabilities. That somewhat uneasy trust in your driving capabilities + a few successful rides = overconfidence.
And then, of course:
Overconfidence + under experience = K.O.
Well, perhaps you won’t actually die the first time you take your eyes of the road or click out a quick text. Perhaps you won’t even crash. Maybe not the first time, or the second time, or the third time… But then, you fall into the trap so many can’t see early enough nor stop themselves from falling into: overconfidence. If you’ve done it a few times, it really can’t be that risky, no?
It is. The more relaxed you get into bad habits, the more your chances of crashing—and possible fatalities—increase. Stay smart. Don’t drive stupid.
As you’ll likely know by now, U Got Brains is holding a statewide competition between nineteen “champion” schools in New Jersey, with each school creating a campaign to promote safe driving. And funnily enough, teens in the schools are beginning to actually take notice.
For some, it’s just a question of asking another friend—“wait what’s up with all the sudden flyers?” and for others, it’s the gift of a free shirt or bracelet from a campaign organizer; but gradually, the students in the schools are starting to realize that this is a big deal— and it’s actually happening at their school.
Adults can come in and teach students about safe driving all they want. Some speeches are funny or witty, while others can be eloquent, touching, or powerful. But no matter how wonderful their speeches are, many students just don’t listen. Maybe they’ll listen for the period, maybe they’ll listen for a few days—but eventually, the majority will go back to the far easier methods of texting out quick replies, foregoing the annoying seat belt, and taking that illegal drink at parties.
However, imagine the concepts of driving in full control becoming the new trend. Of students hitting friends over the heads (not literally! …well, depending on how close the friend is) for driving idiotically, friends telling friends “I love you but I’d really rather not risk my life on your skills at looking at the road and at your phone at the same time”, upperclassmen creating precedents that the underclassmen won’t dare to break in the future—essentially, keeping smart in and stupid out.
We can do this, and the U Got Brains competition is one step towards this goal, this hope. If teenagers become the ones to spread the word and tell each other exactly how stupid stupid is, then they stand the chance of actually being heard and even listened to by peers. We as teens have adopted plenty of strange ideas in the past—so why not adopt a life-saving one, this time, instead?
That’s exactly the response a senior friend gave to me when I asked her if she ever texted while driving. It was actually quite amusing seeing the divide that single answer brought: the nods of agreement from the seniors, and the shocked, almost horrified, faces of the sophomores– the sophomores, who had just finished Drivers Ed. (Just to clarify, Drivers Education is not a class known for teaching one how to drive, but rather for teaching one to be scared of driving.)
After a few years, or maybe even just a few months, it becomes common to forget the horrors we all discovered during our Drivers Ed period or perhaps, as is likely in many cases, we’ve simply pushed it to the back of our minds with the popular teenage mindset of irdc and who really does.
It’s easy to forget caution especially when encouraged by even the mere presence of friends. But, truth be told, isn’t it funny how all of those nasty, cars-rolling-over-fires-exploding-people-being-ripped-apart crashes seemed to almost always happen at those few moments in which people aren’t paying attention? Such as, those few seconds when you’re texting?
Let’s employ a certain type of logic here. The amount of time that you’re texting, or the amount of time that you’re twisting around to talk to someone in the back seat, or the amount of that you’re watching with fascination at the amazing little triangle on your windshield that the wipers just can’t seem to touch; it’s not very long, is it? Just a few seconds. At the same time, the percentage of crashes that happen while people are distracted and not paying as much attention on the road as they should is scarily high. Well over 50%, which basically means, that’s a ton of crashes. So!
That equals a really big chance that you’re going to crash during those six seconds. Sorry.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (@RayLaHood) today released the latest video in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) “Faces of Distracted Driving” series. The new video features the Brown family, whose 17-year-old daughter, Alex, was killed in a 2009 crash because she was texting while driving on a rural road in Wellman, Texas. The family recently appeared on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, raising awareness of the Remember Alex Brown Foundation and the dangers of distracted driving.
“Alex Brown wasn’t a statistic – she was a beloved daughter and a sister, and her death left a hole in the heart of her family members and friends,” said Secretary LaHood. “I hope that everyone who hears the Brown family speak about their tragic loss will realize that no text message or phone call is worth the risk. Additional media attention, like ABC’s helping share the Browns’ story with the viewers of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, is also vital.”
“She’s a huge part of our lives that’s just gone,” said Jeanne Brown. “But maybe we can reach one young person or help keep someone else’s daughter from doing this.”
“Faces of Distracted Driving” is a video series exploring the tragic consequences of texting and cell phone use while driving. It features people from across the country who have been injured or lost loved ones in distracted driving crashes. In 2009, nearly 5,500 people died and half a million were injured in accidents involving a distracted driver. The series is part of Secretary LaHood’s effort to raise greater awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.
USDOT is also encouraging others who would like to share their distracted driving experiences to post videos on YouTube and email the links to: faces@distraction.gov.
The department’s campaign against distracted driving is a multi-modal effort that includes automobiles, trains, planes, and commercial vehicles.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued a rule prohibiting rail employees from using cell phones or other electronic devices on the job following a September 2008 Metrolink crash in Chatsworth, California that killed 25 people.
After a Northwest flight crew distracted by a laptop overshot their destination by 150 miles, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advised air carriers to create and enforce policies that limit distractions in the cockpit and keep pilots focused on transporting passengers safely.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a rule prohibiting text messaging while operating a commercial motor vehicle in September 2010. In December 2010, FMCSA issued a proposal to restrict the use of cell phones by commercial drivers while operating. A rulemaking proposed by the a href=“http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/” target=“blank”>Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) in September 2010 to work in conjunction with the FMCSA ban would restrict the use of electronic devices by drivers during the operation of a motor vehicle containing hazardous materials. The public is invited to comment on the proposed rulemaking.
To learn more about USDOT’s efforts to stop distracted driving, please visit www.distraction.gov.
PLEASEWATCH&SHARE: the entire “Faces of Distracted Driving” series @ www.distraction.gov/faces.
“Distracted Driving Kills. Safe Driving Starts With YOU.”
The Remember Alex Brown Foundation (RAB) honors Alex’s memory by educating others about the dangers of texting while driving. Their website encourages others to share their distracted driving stories and pledge online not to text while operating a vehicle.
New Jersey’s driver safety laws make the Garden State one of the safest in the nation for motorists, a report released today finds.
The state ranks second only to the District of Columbia, according to the highway safety report released by Advocates for Auto and Highway Safety.
New Jersey had 583 fatalities related to auto accidents in 2009, and crashes cost the state $9.3 billion.
The states were ranked on laws addressing seat belts and other protection for adults, distracted driving/text messaging, impaired driving, teen driving, and child protection laws.
New Jersey met almost every requirement, except a law requiring 30–50 hours of supervised
driving for teenagers.
The state got half credit for the requirement that teenage drivers be prohibited from driving from at least 10 p.m to 5 a.m., and half credit for not requiring an ignition interlock for all drunken driving offenders.
New Jersey is one of the highest-spending states when it comes to the financial burden of car crashes, the report found. In New Jersey, $9.3 billion goes toward the economic cost of vehicle crashes. Only Florida, California, New York and Texas spend more.
Nationwide, more than 33,800 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2009, the report found, and more than 2.2 million people were injured.
Eleven percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes during the same time were teen drivers
between 15 and 20.
The report also found auto accidents significantly decrease during economic recessions.
Yep. Just a moment, that’s all you need to slip out that quick reply on your phone. By now, there’s even a good chance that you feel yourself so adept at texting that you can punch out all your words within the space of a couple seconds; little enough time that you can type, finish, and look back up at the road while you’re driving and keep yourself on course. If you’re driving steadily and all you’re doing is pressing out a quick message, your elbows or even maybe one hand still on the wheel while you concentrate on your phone and perhaps looking up every so often to scan the road, you should be fine, right? It’s just a moment.
Unfortunately, that’s also just about enough time for your car to travel about 50, 100, 200, feet. Just those few seconds that your concentrations away from the road, and you could swerve across the center line, into the side of the road, or straight across a turn.
But some people will protest at that. Yes, there is the chance of swerving but if you’re good enough at driving, how much chance is there of losing control? Maybe you’re not a teenager, you’ve been driving for a while, and you can mostly keep control of the wheel while you text. Or, perhaps you are still 16, 17, 18, 19, but you’re good enough to keep control. Well, keep control? Not all the time, but, there is the chance. Be prepared for any sudden obstacles in the road like cars running the stop sign or red light, confused animals, or pedestrians? Not likely, at all. But that’s just how long it takes.
Sure, you need to reply to a text. Or you’re in a rush and you need to notify someone out there about something. Or, maybe, your phone is as much a part of you as your hand, and you just can’t keep off of it. Well then please, stop off the road. It’s just not worth the drastic and likely consequences taking your concentration off the road can easily result in. It’s actually a true fact that thousands die every year from phone-related car crashes. And they’re not very pretty deaths at all.
Want proof? Check out www.ugotbrains.com/too-true-texting.htm for actual pictures of a texting-related accident. If you don’t have a strong stomach, I wouldn’t look at the graphic labeled pictures, though. Looking at pictures of two pieces of a guy and his entrails spilled out onto the road can definitely unsettle plenty of people.
As you’ll likely know by now, U Got Brains is holding a statewide competition between nineteen “champion” schools in New Jersey, with each school creating a campaign to promote safe driving. And funnily enough, teens in the schools are beginning to actually take notice.
